The first fast lap at Road America belongs to Guy Smith, who turned a 1:55.132 (126.575mph) in Thursday's test session. Smith will share his Mazda-powered Lola prototype with Chris Dyson in Saturday's four-hour Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase, round six of the 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.
Smith's quick lap was 2.437sec clear of Chris McMurry in Autocon's AER-Lola. McMurry entered a lap time of 1:57.569 (123.951mph) in the LMP1 prototype he will share with Tony Burgess and Michael Lewis, who will make his final start in a prototype this weekend. Steven Kane was third quickest in LMP1 with a lap of 2:04.736 (116.829mph). He will share driving duties with Humaid Al Masaood on Saturday. Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing did not participate in the test session.
Luis Diaz topped the LMP2 category for Level 5 Motorsports, which makes its return to ALMS competition. Diaz turned a 1:59.356 (122.095mph) in the Lola-Honda he shares with Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut.
A pair of Ferraris topped the GT times, led by Risi Competizione. Jaime Melo clocked a 2:06.984 (114.761mph) in the Ferrari F458 Italia he shares with Toni Vilander. Melo was 0.425sec ahead of the Ferrari F458 Italia of Guy Cosmo, who set the fastest GT race lap at Mid-Ohio two weeks ago. The Extreme Speed Motorsports driver entered a 2:07.409 (114.378mph) and will share driving duties with Ed Brown on Saturday. Mosport GT winner Corvette Racing was third fastest as Jan Magnussen turned a 2:07.760 (114.064mph) in the Corvette C6.R he shares with Oliver Gavin.
Current category point leader CORE autosport led the way in LMPC. Gunnar Jeannette and teammate Frankie Montecalvo were separated by 0.297sec. Jeannette, who will drive the No. 06 ORECA FLM09 with Ricardo Gonzalez, turned a 2:00.063 (121.376mph) in testing. Before making a trip to the Turn 9 gravel, Montecalvo entered a 2:00.360 (121.077mph). The placement of the car necessitated a red flag on the session, but damage to the No. 05 ORECA FLM09 Montecalvo shares with Jon Bennett was minimal. Third-quickest in LMPC was Rudy Junco, who turned a 2:00.528 (120.908mph) in PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports' ORECA LMP09 which he will share with Butch Leitzinger on Saturday.
Defending GTC race winner Black Swan Racing picked up where it left off and set the fastest GTC time of the session. Jeroen Bleekemolen turned a 2:14.161 (108.622mph) and will share the No. 54 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with team owner Tim Pappas. Sean Edwards was second quickest in NGT Motorsports' No. 30 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Edwards clocked a 2:14.602 (108.266mph) and will share driving duties with Carlos Kauffmann and Henrique Cisneros this weekend. Third fastest was The Racer's Group and Dion von Moltke, who turned a 2:15.366 (107.655mph). Von Moltke is teamed with Emilio Di Guida in the No. 68 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
The Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase goes green at 3:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, with ABC airing the race at 4:30 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT – check local listings) on Sunday, Aug. 21.